Free A to Z Mysteries: The Bald Bandit by Ron Roy and John Steven Gurney Page A

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    “Here’s my phone number. Call me if you get that video.”
    Dink closed the door behind Detective Reddy. He grinned at Josh and Ruth Rose. “A hundred bucks each! We’re rich!”

“Here’s the plan,” Dink said.
    It was almost three o’clock the next afternoon. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose were headed for the high school, a few blocks away from Green Lawn Elementary.
    “Josh, you cover the back door. Ruth Rose, your station is the bike rack. But keep an eye on the parking lot, too.”
    “How can I watch the bike rack
and
the parking lot?” asked Ruth Rose.
    “Watch one with each eye,” Josh said, grinning.
    “What’s your station?” Ruth Rose asked Dink.
    “I’ll be watching the front door. If anyone sees a skinny redhead, stop him and yell.”
    Ruth Rose laughed. “Stop him and yell? He’ll think we’re crazy and run away.”
    “She’s right,” Josh said.
    Dink scratched his thick blond hair. “Hmm. Okay, don’t yell. Just get his name and tell him he may have won some money.”
    They cut through the park next to the high school.
    “What money?” Josh asked.
    “Well, if Detective Reddy is going to pay us a hundred dollars each to find the video, I figure we can give the kid half the money. But only if he gives us the video.”
    At the high school, they split up.Josh ran around to the back of the school. Ruth Rose sat on the lawn next to the bike rack.
    Dink sat on a bench where he had a good view of the front door.
    Suddenly, he heard a loud bell. Ten seconds later, the front door burst open. A million high school kids shovedthrough the door and scrambled down the front steps.

    Dink stood on the bench so he wouldn’t get trampled. He was looking for red hair, but it wasn’t easy to spot. Some of the kids had hats on. Some wore jackets or sweatshirts with the hoods pulled up. Sometimes Dink couldn’t tell if a kid was a boy or a girl!
    Finally, he spotted a tall guy with red hair. Dink jumped off the bench and ran after him.
    “Excuse me,” Dink said, trying to catch his breath.
    “Who are you?” the redhead asked.
    “Dink Duncan.” Dink tried to remember his plan. “You may have won some money!”
    The redhead stared down at Dink. “Money? Me? Why? How much money?”
    “Were you near the bank when therobbery happened last week?” he asked.
    The kid kept staring at Dink. “Robbery? What robbery?”
    “You didn’t hear about it? It was on the news, on TV. Some guy robbed Green Lawn Savings Bank.”
    “So what’s it to you?”
    “A kid with red hair got the robber on tape,” Dink said. “I’m helping to find him. There’s going to be a reward.”
    “Rats, I wish I did tape the guy,” the redhead said, shaking his head. “I could use a reward. But I wasn’t anywhere near the bank last week.” He waved and headed for the park. “Good luck!”
    Dink looked around for another redhead, but everyone had disappeared.
    He walked toward the bike rack. Ruth Rose was sitting on the lawn, weaving grass blades together.
    “Did you see any redheads?” Dinkasked, plopping down beside her.
    “Three,” Ruth Rose said. “One was a short, fat boy. One was a girl. One was a teacher.”
    Josh came running up.
    “Any luck?” he asked.
    “Nope,” Dink said. “How’d you do?”
    “I talked to two guys with red hair. One of them told me to take a hike. The other one was an exchange student from Ireland. He told me he doesn’t even know where the bank is.”
    “Great,” Dink said. “We all struck out. Now what do we do?”
    Josh tossed a pine cone at a tree. “Beats me.”
    “We should search the whole neighborhood,” Ruth Rose said.
    “How?” Dink asked.
    Ruth Rose stood up and dusted off her shorts. “Easy. We just go door to door and ask.”
    “How can we do that without our parents finding out?” Josh asked. “Mine won’t let me get involved with some bank robber, that’s for sure.”
    “Mine either,” Dink said.
    “So how do we explain why we’re